Nursery schools are not build by the government, but as an initiative of private persons or a community and they themselves are responsible for the necessary financial means. This however is not easy and there is a shortcoming of acceptable housing, furniture, school materials, just to name a few things.

In our part of the globe, all these aspects are taken care of very well, no shortage of good materials. All these aspects of education are far from regular in The Gambia.

In everyday life this means that 45 to 60 and some times even more children, are sitting in one classroom, many times only on a bench, wood or concrete. Let alone good and sufficient school materials.

The nursery schools educate children up to seven years old. They are build by private initiative of the people and build with gifts of the local people and with donations.

It often takes years before a school can be called a school.

From the age of seven the kids have the ‘obligation’ to attend school, and they go to the primary or lower basic school, which lasts 6 years.

Unfortunately many families cannot afford the school fees, which means the children don’t go to school, or just a few terms.

Very few kids go on to secondary school, because the school costs are much too high for most parents.

But, it is obvious that, also in The Gambia, education is the key to further development, and therefore it is a necessity.